


Should I Stay

by myhomeistheshire



Series: The Weight of Living [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 21:00:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhomeistheshire/pseuds/myhomeistheshire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S.H.I.E.L.D. decides to interrogate Skye, but Ward is having second thoughts about her betrayal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Should I Stay

It happened so fast.

 

One moment, Skye was bonding with the team. She had a life here, and the chance to have a family. S.H.I.E.L.D. picking her up was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

 

And now it was all gone.

 

“Tell me, Skye.” Ward was looming over her in the plane’s holding cell. “What are you still doing here? What does the rising tide know? How long have you been associating with them? Tell me!” His voice almost rose to a shout at the end, the first time Skye had ever seen his emotions get away from him. She swallowed, twisting her fingers together.

“I wasn’t betraying you. I told you this before. I just went to go see Miles. He’s my friend, and he was in trouble. Isn’t that what w - you people do?” She had to stop herself from saying ‘we’. There’s no we anymore, Skye reminded herself. It’s just them, and you. Because you always do this, and you always end up alone.

“Dammit, Skye!” Ward slammed a fist onto the table, making Skye flinch involuntarily. “I can’t help you if you don’t let me know what’s going on! You betrayed all of this - we were a team, and you just threw that away. So if you can’t tell me the truth, just this once, you’re finished with all of us.” He turned and walked out of the cell, and Skye didn’t call out after him.

 

* * *

Ward couldn’t sleep that night. He had loads of pent-up anger and frustration and hurt, so he went to the training room for an hour. But even that didn’t stop the thoughts, thoughts of Skye and why the hell she’d do the things she’d done. Had everything been fake? The jokes, the opening up about her family. Had she just been trying to get more information?

He gave up on the punching bags and headed up the stairs to get some water from the fridge. As he passed through the control room, he made the mistake of glancing over at the screen. The cell was dark, as always, but he could see Skye huddled up on the chair. Her head was nestled into her arms, and she was motionless. Ward went to turn and leave, but then she lifted her head and he saw that her cheeks were tear-stricken. Skye wiped away the tears with her hand, but then her shoulders started to shake and she bit her lip and her arms tightened around her knees like a life support. Her breath came in gasps and Ward, watching her, felt his chest constrict. She chose this, he thought, but looking at her he knew she didn’t want this, didn’t want to leave them. But that didn’t change anything.

 

* * *

Skye woke the next morning to the cell door opening. She quickly turned her head away and wiped off any remnants of tears that might’ve been left over. She turned her head back to see Coulson and Ward entering the room.

 

With a syringe.

 

“Oh, so now you’re going to shoot me up with some truth serum, huh? That’s your answer?” She tried to keep the hard, acerbic edge to her voice, but she was more terrified than she’d ever been, even when she’d been inches away from death. Her mind, her secrets - those were the things that no one had been able to take away from her. And this, being stripped bare, would be so much worse than any torture they could put her through.

“It seemed necessary.” Coulson said crisply. Ward wouldn’t meet Skye’s eyes. “You may find you can attempt to resist it, however the harder you try the more painful it will be.”

“Great. Now if you could just - ow!” The needle went into her arm with a painful sting. Skye glared at Coulson as she rubbed the puncture wound. Skye waited for a moment, expecting to feel something. But nothing happened. At least, until Coulson started talking.

“How long have you been working with the rising tide?”

“Two years.” Skye answered automatically. Shit - she hadn’t meant to say that.

“And how long have you been giving them information on S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

Skye bit her lip, but the words rushed out. “Since you picked me up in LA.”

It went on like this for ages, Coulson asking her about everything from her contacts in the rising tide to the information she’d given them.

“Why are you here?”

No. No, no, no. This was the one question Skye would not answer - she couldn’t. She’d never told anyone. “I - already - told you.” She said through gritted teeth. No sooner were the words out than a blinding white-hot pain shot through her skull and down her spine. She cried out without meaning to, and then the next moment she was on the floor taking big, gasping breaths for air. But now there was a new pain - her hand had still been cuffed to the table, and now she was fairly certain that she’d snapped her wrist.

“I told you it would hurt.” Coulson sounded sympathetic, and Skye had the sudden urge to slap him. “Tell us the truth and it’ll stop.”

“Go to hell.” Skye muttered viciously, and then it was back and she couldn’t think, or move, couldn’t even gather enough air to scream. My family, Skye thought.

 

Then, suddenly, it was over.

 

“My parents.” She spat out. “That’s the reason I’m here.” She reached into her bra and pulled out the chip, letting it fall to the floor. Ward reached down to take it, and she flinched away from him. A hurt look flashed across his face before he was gone.

 

* * *

“She was telling the truth.” Coulson was staring at the screen that held the chip. “Her parents, their death was somehow involved with S.H.I.E.L.D.” He set it down and turned to face Ward. “Keep an eye on her, give her a bracelet, let her out of the cell for now.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ward asked, surprised. “She still could find away to get around the bracelet, contact the rising tide -”

“Did you notice anything about the information?” Coulson interrupted.

“Sir?” Ward wasn’t following him.

“The information she provided the rising tide with.” Coulson clarified. “It was outdated. It seems everything she told them was next to useless.”

Ward blanked. So it was possible that she hadn’t betrayed them. That she’d been innocent, just trying to get along as best she could. And they’d put her through hell. He could still see her face, terrified and in agony as she tried to resist the truth serum. He turned away quickly. “I’ll get her out, sir.” He said, before he could think too much about what he’d done.

“Good.”

 

* * *

It was nearly an hour later when the door opened again - this time to Ward, alone, holding a small black box and a key. “Come to pop the question?” Skye quipped, sarcastically nodding to the box. “Because this might not be the best time, with the serums and tortures and -”

“You can leave the cell now.” Ward said stonily.

“What?” For a moment Skye’s mind went blank. “Why?”

Ward still wouldn’t look at her, Skye couldn’t figure out why. “Coulson seems to think you aren’t such a threat as previously thought. You’ll have to wear one of these, though.” He took out one of the small, electronic bracelets reserved for severe criminals that S.H.I.E.L.D. dealt with. Skye’s heart sunk as he clipped it onto her wrist - the not-broken one, thankfully. Ward reached for the handcuffs, holding the key.

“No!” Skye jumped. “I’ll do it, just give me the key.”

Ward gave her a suspicious glare. Well, at least he was finally looking at her. “No way in hell am I giving you a key. Nice try.”

Skye braced herself, but she couldn’t help a small gasp as Ward removed the cuffs none too gently. She bit her lip, cradling her wrist.

“What happened?” Ward asked, and was that concern in his voice?

Skye covered her wrist quickly. “Nothing.” She muttered, but Ward wasn’t fooled. He reached down and grabbed her wrist, roughly enough that it sent a shock of pain through Skye’s arm. His eyes widened.

“When did this happen?” He demanded. When Skye didn’t answer, he faltered for a moment. “When you fell, during the - interrogation.” Skye nodded. “Dammit, Skye!” Ward exclaimed, making her jump. “You don’t always have to be such a martyr, you know that?”

“Oh yeah, like you’re one to talk.” Skye bit off the words. “Great advice, Mr. ‘I-don’t-need-your-help’.”

Ward sighed. “Come on, I can bring you to the lab. Fitzsimmons will be able to set the bone.”

They walked to the lab in silence, before finally Skye got up the nerve to ask something she’d wanted to since Ward saw her in that room with Miles.

“Ward, I’m really -”

“So you’ve said.”

“No, let me finish.” Skye took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry. I was stupid, and I didn’t think. Miles was my friend, but this - this team is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a family. And I know what I did to deserve this, but I need to know, honestly - do you hate me?” She braced herself for the answer. Because if he said yes, she would leave.

Ward looked surprised at that. “Of course not.” He responded crisply. It seemed that this crossed his no-emotions line a little more than he was comfortable with. “I’m angry, obviously, but I’d never hate you.”

Skye felt a pang of relief like a splinter being pulled out of her. He didn’t hate her. He didn’t. She shrugged, trying to brush off how vulnerable she suddenly felt. “Just checking.” She mumbled. But when she looked back up at Ward he was staring at her in a way no one had ever looked at her before, and they were suddenly standing so close to each other, and before she knew it they were kissing.

It was better than anything she could’ve imagined, even if she’d thought to imagine that Ward would ever forgive her, or feel the same way. And Skye could’ve stayed that way forever, except when she reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair a flash of pain reminded her of the reason they were in the hallway. “Ow!” She said, pulling away for a moment. Ward glanced down at her wrist.

“Right. We should - Fitzsimmons will be in the lab - which is where we’re heading. Should be heading.” Skye had never seen him flustered before. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading.

“Sure.” She said, stepping back a little. “But I’m all up for resuming this afterwards.” She saw Ward’s mouth twitch up in a little smile before he hid it again.

“You know, I think we finally agree on something.”

 

And that was when Skye decided to stay.


End file.
